Curved surface cleaner



Dec. 9,1941. E. sTEccoNE CURVED SURFACE CLEANER Filed March 6, 1940 mull c mm mm m u M Patented Dec. 9, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,265,551 CURVED SURFACE CLEANER Ettore Steccone, Oakland, Calif.

Application March 6, 1940, Serial No. 322,514

3 Claims.

My invention relates to a curved surface cleaner and more particularly to a device commonly known in the art as the squeegee," my device being adapted for use on curved surfaces, either convex or concave.

Among the objects of my invention are: to provide a simple and emcient cleaner for curved surfaces: to provide a flexible squeegee: to provide a flexible squeegee together with means bending the squeegee so that the cleaning edge thereof may conform to curved surfaces: to provide a squeegee having a cleaning edge flexed by the hand during use thereof: to provide a flexible squeegee and means for changing the curvature of the cleaning edge of the squeegee at will.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent or will be specifically pointed out in the description forming a part of this specification, but I do not limit myself to the embodiment of the invention herein described, as various forms may be adopted within the scope of the claims.

Squeegees as customarily used consist of a resilient wiping edge, usually of rubber, mounted in a solid member maintaining the edge as a straight line, so that planar surfaces such as windows or a the like may be wiped clean of water or moist dirt.

I have found however, that there are many surfaces which cannot be cleaned by the use of such a straight wiping edge, these surfaces being curved and consequently incapable of being cleaned by the ordinary type of squeegee.

Broadly, therefore, my invention comprises a squeegee capable of cleaning and wiping curved surfaces, this being accomplished by making the.

blade of the squeegee, together with its Wiping surface, flexible and capable of curvature. I then provide means, preferably including handle means, to flex the blade to conform to whatever curved surface it is desired to be cleaned.

My invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing one preferred form of my invention curved to fit a convex surface, the curvature being obtained by hand pressure against the sides of a handle.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the squeegee at rest with the blade in planar position.

Figure 3 is adetail view in topplan of one end of the squeegee showing the attachment of the handle.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken as indicated by the line 4-4 in Figure 3, showing the central insert, and means of connecting the handle to the blade.

material as for example, spring steel, phosphor bronze, or other similar metals which do not take a set and which will maintain the blade of the squeegee planar when no pressure is applied thereto. The insert material also should be such that it may be readily flexed during use, and I provide means for causing such flexing. I prefer to utilize the handle to cause the desired flexing, and therefore prefer to form the handle of a generally Y-shaped piece of wire 6. The two ends I of the wire are provided with threads 8 and are screwed into handle terminals 9 having a concave blade engaging portion I0. I prefer to form the terminals 9 by stamping and forming sheet metal to have a wire engaging end II and a concave blade engaging portion III formed by turning the edges I2.

Adj acent the ends of metallic insert 4, I provide a threaded protrusion I4 extending through the rubber covering to the surface of the blade, and I lock the handle terminals 9 to the metal insert 4 by means of screws I5. The pressure exerted by the screws I5 forces edges I2 into the rubber, or other resilient material used, and thus I prevent the terminal portions 9 from rotating on screw I5 as a pivot.

Immediately beyond the engagements of the handle wire with terminals 9 the wire is bent toward the center of the blade and then is bent outwardly to form convergent handle portions 11, the wire then expanding'into an end loop I 9. This p l9 maintains handle portion 1 within the grasp of the operator's hand 20, as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 1.

In assembling the device, terminals 9 are screwed tothe ends 8 of handle 6 leaving a portion 2| of threads 8 extending beyond terminals 9. This is done so that the ends 8 of the handle may rotate with respect to terminals 9 during use of the squeegee. Terminals 9 are then screwed solidly to blade- I and the device is ready for use.

In use the squeegee is picked up by the handle and the hand engaging-portions I'I positioned in the palm of the hand so that pressure may be exerted'to force the portions II toward each other, by the use of the fingers and base of the v over the wiping stroke.

thumb. This pressure flexes the blade, either upwardly to conform to a convex surface as shown in Figure l, or if desired, downwardly so curved in accordance with the curvature of the surface during the wiping stroke.

It has been found that there is no difliculty in adjusting hand pressure to cause the entire edge 2 to conform to the surface to be cleaned, even though this surface changes in curvature Consequently, the device may be used to clean surfaces which are not only changing in curvature, but which-also have many different curvatures thereon, such as for example, the body surfaces of an automobile.

If the surface to be cleaned is constant in its curvature over a wide extent, I may desire to remove the necessity. of maintaining continuous hand pressure on the device, by the use of a solid link 22 engaging both handle portions l1. Inasmuch as handle portions I1 are slightly con- .vergent toward the end loop I9, this link may bemade to fit the smallest spacing of the handle when the squeegee blade I is planar. As link 22 is moved toward the blade however, it will maintain the blade in curves having increasingly shortened radii, without the necessity of constant hand pressure. If the link is not to be used, it may be positioned adjacent loop l9 where it does not hold the' blade in flexed positions, and the squeegee used under hand alone, the grasp of the hand preventing the link 22 from moving toward the blade on the hand portion l1 during this type of use.

I claim:

1. A curved surface cleaner comprising an elongated normally planar resilient member having a wiping edge of material more resilient than the material of said member, and a continuous flexible wire handle extending outwardly in the general plane of said member in a direction away from said wiping edge and returning to said member, the ends of said handle being rotatably attached at points adjacent the ends of said member to rotate on axes parallel to the common plane of said handle and said member during flexing of said member, said handle forming a loop having opposed portions shaped to be held in the hand, whereby the normal plane of said member may be flexed to cause said edge to flt a curved surface to be cleaned.

. 2. A cleaner for curved surfaces such as automobile bodies, comprising a thin, normally planar flexible strip, a covering of resilient material such as rubber on said strip, one edge of said rubber being formed into a wiping edge, a wire handle extending outwardly away from said strip in a l plane parallel to the plane of said strip and on the opposite side of said strip from said edge, said wire being formed into an unbroken hand accommodating loop, handle attachments flxed to a flat surface of said strip and having threaded portions extending away from said edge at substantially right angles thereto, the ends of said wire handle being threaded into said threaded portions to provide a rotatable attachment of said handle to said strip.

3. A cleaner for curved surfaces such as automobile bodies, comprising a thin normally planar flexible strip, a covering of resilient material such as rubber on said strip, one edge of said rubber being formed into a wiping edge, a wire handle extending outwardly awayfrom said strip in a plane parallel to the plane of said strip and on the opposite side of said strip from said edge, said wire being formed into an unbroken hand accommodating loop, handle attachments fixed to a flat surface of said strip and having handle end receiving portions extending away from said edge at substantially right angles thereto, the ends of said wire handle being rotatably inserted into said handle end receiving portions to provide a rotatable attachment of said handle to said strip.

ETTORE STECCONE. 

